1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of carrying articles, a physical distribution system for carrying the articles, and a carrying bag used therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an existing physical distribution system, a conveying trade generally intervenes between a sending trade and a receiving trade (ordering trade) in order to improve the conveying efficiency of the physical distribution system. The conveying trade goes to a depository of articles to be carried (generally, the sending trade) to collect the articles to be carried from the sending trade. Then, the conveying trade puts the articles which were collected from multiple sending trades in the conveying trade""s center and sorts the articles according to receiving trades. Thereafter, the conveying trade conveys the articles to receiving places of the articles (generally, receiving trades) and the receiving trades receive the articles.
In such a physical distribution system, a sending trade and receiving trade are recognized by paper-made slips attached to the articles and/or tags peculiar to respective articles using bar codes or the like, for example, and the respective articles are managed by the tags peculiar to the respective articles, for example. Therefore, the slips and tags are carried together with the articles from the sending trade to the receiving trade.
In the physical distribution system, a sending trade wants to send information about an article together with the article to a receiving trade, whereas the receiving trade wants to receive the information about the article together with the article from the sending trade. If a document or the like on which such information is described is carried together with an article, the information about the article can be transmitted. However, since it is considered that a lot of information which is desired to be closed for persons other than the trades concerned is included in such information, a higher degree of secret is required for the transmission of the information.
In the existing physical distribution system where the conveying trade intervenes, in the case where a document on which information is described is transmitted, there arises a problem that the degree of the secret of the information is extremely low. Moreover, since an information medium is a document made of paper, it has a disadvantage that it is easily affected by the natural environment or the like.
One object of the present invention is to provide an article carrying method and a physical distribution system, which are capable of sending information about an article from a carrying source (sending trade) to a carrying destination (receiving trade) while maintaining a high degree of secret at the same time when the article is carried, and a carrying bag to be used therefor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an article carrying method and a physical distribution system capable of managing a received article at a carrying destination (receiving trade) efficiently, and a carrying bag to be used therefor.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a carrying bag as an information media which is not much affected by the natural environment or the like.
In the present invention, the carrying source (sending trade) which accepts an order for an article writes information about the article into a non-contact type IC card. A conveying trade collects the IC card as well as the article from the carrying source (sending trade) so as to carry the collected article and the IC card to the carrying destination (receiving trade). The carrying destination (receiving trade) receives the IC card as well as the article from the conveying trade and reads the information about the article from the received IC card. Therefore, since the information about the article is transmitted by using the IC card as a medium, a secret degree of the information is high, and alternation of the information during the carrying of the article can be also prevented. Moreover, in the carrying destination (receiving trade), the information is read from the IC card carried together with the article so that all the information about the article can be managed easily.
In order to prevent an influence of an external environment, it is preferable that such an IC card is accommodated in a carrying bag, to which a slip where the carrying source (sending trade) and the carrying destination (receiving trade) has been described and a tag or the like for managing the article are attached, so as to be carried with the article.
In addition, in the case where an article is small, the article as well as the IC card is accommodated in the carrying bag so as to be capable of being carried.
Since the non-contact type IC card is used, the information may be written into the IC card before or after the IC card is accommodated in the carrying bag.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.